desde . Arteleku (2004)

Audio Tour 32'

Presented and produced by  MUGATXOAN 2004 - Arteleku Gipuzkoako Foru Aldundia - Fundaçao Serralves

 

“desde” (from) means time and space: “from then… until now…” or “from here… to there…”.

“desde” is an artistic project with site-specific characteristics and the possibility of moving to places whose original use is transformed into arts centres. It’s a project on the way on how we practise space on a daily scope, on the kind of relation that it developed between users and the surrounding architecture, on the connection between memories and the places.

 

Following a year of interviews carried out with a broad range of people who have been or are part of the building, “desde” is presented as a video installation (desde . Serralves, Porto, 2004) or an audio-guide (desde . Arteleku, San Sebastian, 2004 and desde . La Laboral, Gijón, 2009).

 

Between a guide tour and a documentary, the audience has the chance to experience the spaces described in person. The discourse is developed using the field of memory and interpretation and the gaze of the audience is added to that of the interviewee, so creating an imaginary superposition of mental spaces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arteleku

 

Arteleku is a contemporary arts centre. Between 1987 and 2014 it established itself in a building in the outskirts of San Sebastian.

 

This building had formerly been used by workers from Easo as a warehouse for the storage and repair of electric materials. The company went bankrupt and the tax authorities confiscated the building. The regional government of Guipúzcoa reclaimed it to create a space for artists' studios, thus opening Arteleku in 1987. During its time as an art centre, the building underwent several renovations and transformations in order to adapt to artists needs. In 2014, after a strong flood, Arteleku moved to the centre of San Sebastian, joining the institutional shifts taking place in the city's cultural fabric.

 

Among those interviewed: former workers of the warehouse, the centre's employees (those in charge of programming, cleaning, management, and administration), the architects who conducted the renovation, artists from various periods, neighbours...